[mizenkay]

Coach Scott Skiles believes the Bulls can make off-season personnel decisions based on how players handle the pressure of the playoff chase.

"This is where when you sit around in the summertime, a good way to evaluate your players is to figure out who can step up, who can make big plays," he said before Saturday's game against Philadelphia.

"I think we may have some guys feeling the heat a little bit of having to perform. But that's the pros. That's what it's all about."

It probably goes without saying that any player out with an injury won't get high marks in handling the heat. Bulls center Eddy Curry missed his third game with a left hamstring strain, and forward Luol Deng has been out since March 1 with a sprained right ankle. Both players hope to return Monday when the Bulls host Atlanta.

Until they beat Philadelphia 94-88 Saturday, the Bulls were 0-5 this season in games Curry did not play. Skiles had little to say when asked if that record says anything about Curry's value to the team.

"I'm not even worried about that right now," Skiles said. "It's not for me to judge anyone's value. That's for (general manager) John (Paxson) to judge."

In comparison, Skiles' enthusiasm grew when he talked about two of the team's running wounded - Andres Nocioni and Kirk Hinrich.

"Noc is all screwed up," Skiles said. "He's got a deep thigh bruise, I guess. He's got an impacted molar he's dealing with that's very bad. He's battling through a lot of injuries right now. Just to be out there and playing, it's very impressive."

...

"Kirk, the fact that he's even playing speaks to his toughness," Skiles said. "He probably shouldn't be playing. I catch him dragging it a little bit. But he's playing with a big heart out there right now."

Daily Herald

Eddy Curry's hamstring may be balky, but the heart of this gritty and resilient Bulls team is very, very healthy.

Playing without their center for the third straight game, the banged-up Bulls stared at falling back to .500 and into a tie with Philadelphia in the playoff race before they posted a come-from-behind, 94-88 victory Saturday night.

Coach Scott Skiles expressed curiosity about how his team would respond to the Bulls' first meaningful late-season games in seven seasons. Playing their fourth game in five nights, and with starters Kirk Hinrich, Chris Duhon and Andres Nocioni all banged up, the Bulls answered in a big way.

Othella Harrington scored a season-high 24 points, Ben Gordon added 22 and Hinrich shook off his sore hamstring to flirt with a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

"We needed this desperately as a team," Hinrich said. "I've been saying for awhile: We need to learn to play hard every game. If we play like this, high-energy on the defensive end, we can do some things. If not, we're not the type of team that can win a lot of games."

The Bulls snapped a four-game skid and won the season series from the 76ers, earning a playoff tiebreaker if needed.

A 12-0 Bulls run early in the fourth-quarter complemented extremely tough defense by Hinrich and Duhon on Allen Iverson, who scored 24 of his 31 points in the first half and committed 11 turnovers.

...

"We've been in way tougher situations than this," Chandler said. "This was just a mini-slump. We can win eight in a row. That's what has to be in our heads."

Such positive thinking was in short supply before the game. That's when Nocioni nursed a deep thigh bruise and an impacted molar that may be removed on Sunday and Curry tested his sore hamstring before declaring he couldn't go.

"This is extremely tough, especially because teams behind us are gaining ground," Curry said. "But running on it hurts and trying to plant and change directions is hard."

Skiles tersely answered a question about the Bulls going 0-5 without Curry before Saturday. "It's not for me to judge anybody's value," Skiles said. "That's for [general manager John Paxson] to judge."

But afterward, positive vibes abounded.

"We may have some guys feeling the heat a little bit of having to perform," Skiles said. "That's the pros. And that's a good thing. These [late-season] games have meant nothing [in recent seasons]. Now they mean something. That's good. Our guys need to go through that."

Chicago Tribune



it's time to separate the men from the boys.

 

[Mr. T]

When the game ended, Iverson had to be pulled away by his teammates from an argument at midcourt with referee Marc Davis.

"I was upset about a lot of the calls that were made," said Iverson, who shot 16 free throws. "I thought at times it got personal. I never had a referee tell me that he 'whupped my (butt),' but I lost it after that."

:clap:

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/bulls.asp?intID=3843191

Duhon has to be revelling with this. Much better than a coaches attaboy.

 

[SecretAgentGuy]

:clap:

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/bulls.asp?intID=3843191

Duhon has to be revelling with this. Much better than a coaches attaboy.

Yet another reason why I think he's gonna eat up 60-80% of our MLE.

And it's certainly ironic that AI's the one complaining about calls.

 

[HAWK23]

if the ref really said that to Iverson he should be fired on the spot...

 

[Mr. T]

if the ref really said that to Iverson he should be fired on the spot...

Although Iverson should have been tossed with his "crumpling to the floor" which wouldn't have put him in position to be in the game anyway.

Amazing, on any given night you can talk under your breath, swing a hand in disgust, laugh openly at a call and boom - you've just been T'd up. Meanwhile, Iverson can launch into an award winning display of histrionics and he's still in the game because he already used his "free" T. Just more of what you'd expect from the ever consistant officiating in the NBA.

I'd be the last to defend NBA officials because as a whole I think they suck and they try to impose their personalities on the game way too much. Yet, who believes they're not taking a lot of crap from these players that doesn't ever become available for public consumption? Iverson might get told he was gettin' his butt whooped, but I'd like to hear some of the stuff Iverson has said to officials over the years.


And all this talk of T, just makes me have to say:

 

[Wynn]

if the ref really said that to Iverson he should be fired on the spot...

I imagine the context was....

[blur screen]
[cue new age music]

AI [whining]Come on, ref, how do you think I got held to so few points in the half, man? And you guys only gave me 16 foul shots?!?! That's ridiculous, man! I'm AI! He's, he's, well, I know he has a name, uhhhh..... uhm. Damn, man, I'm AI! This ain't practice, man, it ain't practice.[/whining]

ref I feel you, man, I really do, but that kid "whupped your @zz" tonight. Better luck tomorrow.

[/cue new age music]
[/blur screen]

...in which it case it was a candid conversation at the end of the game where AI was inappropriately harassing an official after his team lost. I can't see where that is a fireable offense. Especially given that Philly MADE 7 more foul shots than we even attempted and that AI was given a free pass on showing up the refs with all of his acting on the court.

 

[Darius Miles Davis]

Wait, is the implication of Iverson's quote that Duhon whupped his butt or the ref himself whupped his butt?

 

[Wynn]

Wait, is the implication of Iverson's quote that Duhon whupped his butt or the ref himself whupped his butt?

Hmmm.... I didn't even think of the fact that it might be the ref. Context doesn't help here. I can't imagine a ref saying "I whupped your (butt)", it's got to be about Duhon. The reference is unclear, though. Is this what HAWK23! took it to mean? In that case, I agree that there should be sanctions against the ref.

 

[PC Load Letter]

Wait, is the implication of Iverson's quote that Duhon whupped his butt or the ref himself whupped his butt?

That's exactly what I took it to mean as soon as I read it. To me, him referring to Duhon "whupping his butt" doesn't really make sense with the way the quote is written.

Anyway, if he is indeed implying that the ref said he "whupped his butt," then the ref should be punished because that is making it personal.

 

[HAWK23]

Hmmm.... I didn't even think of the fact that it might be the ref. Context doesn't help here. I can't imagine a ref saying "I whupped your (butt)", it's got to be about Duhon. The reference is unclear, though. Is this what HAWK23! took it to mean? In that case, I agree that there should be sanctions against the ref.

that IS what I took it to mean by looking at that quote above... maybe I misread it.. not sure... but like I said if the ref told that to Iverson he should be fired...


ahhh I can see it now... the referee TOLD Iverson that Duhon whipped his butt... ok I get it... still not good, but not as bad as I thought... carry on :angel:

 

[DaBullz]

There's a certain disconnect here.

16 free throws is an awful lot to shoot. I don't see how it's good defense to either foul the guy that much or to let him get by so your teammates foul him.

But... carry on.

 

[Wynn]

There's a certain disconnect here.

16 free throws is an awful lot to shoot. I don't see how it's good defense to either foul the guy that much or to let him get by so your teammates foul him.

But... carry on.

Did you watch the game? Almost all contact was initiated by AI. Many of the replays showed him basically jumping into the defenders chest. Yet it's AI complaining that the game was not called fairly. 16 foul shots for Iverson, 22 for the entire Bull.

There's a disconnect here, that's for sure.

 

[bullsville]

Did you watch the game? Almost all contact was initiated by AI. Many of the replays showed him basically jumping into the defenders chest. Yet it's AI complaining that the game was not called fairly. 16 foul shots for Iverson, 22 for the entire Bull.

There's a disconnect here, that's for sure.

:clap: :worship:

Awesome post.

Iverson was 9-24 from the field with 11 TO's, I'd say there was a little bit of defense being played.

Of course, the "disconnected" would say that AI just had an off night and the Bulls' defense had nothing to do with it...

 

[mizenkay]

funny how a thread about guys playing through injury/pain can stray into butt whupping land so quickly (thanks T)...but here is some more AI fodder.

Like he has so many times in his career, 76ers guard Allen Iverson crumpled to the floor in a heap. Only this time, he wasn’t injured -- instead, he was painfully frustrated at a charging call on him in the waning minutes of Saturday night’s game with the Chicago Bulls at the Wachovia Center.

Moments later, Chicago’s Chris Duhon, who drew the charge on Iverson, buried a huge 3-pointer that put the Bulls up 89-85 and silenced the crowd. Chicago held on from there, handing the 76ers an especially tough 94-88 loss in a game with major playoff implications.

After the game, Iverson went after referee Mark Davis and had to be restrained by teammates Marc Jackson and Aaron McKie. The post-game exchange between Iverson and Davis was a heated one.

"I was upset about a lot of calls made," Iverson said. "At times it got personal. A lot of stuff was going back-and-forth. It was crazy. I’ve never had a ref tell me he’d whoop my (butt). I lost it after that."

Iverson almost seemed amused by Davis’ comments when retelling him, but he did not feel the same way about his performance.

After scoring 24 points in the first half, the Sixers’ guard finished with 31 points and committed a staggering 11 turnovers. He was 9-for-24 from the field.

"I never could get anything together," he said. "I couldn’t do anything right. Even without the refs, I still had a bad game."

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14184140&BRD=1675&PAG=461&dept_id=18170&rfi=6



and then there's...

After the game Iverson also had to be physically restrained by teammate Marc Jackson to keep from going after referee Marc Davis, who Iverson said told him he ''whupped my a--.''

Iverson also attempted to get to the referees' dressing room but was headed off well short of that area by general manager Billy King.

''I never had a referee tell me he whupped my a--, but that's the way it went and I basically lost it after that,'' said Iverson, who was twice whistled for offensive fouls by Davis, including one at midcourt with 2:41 left and the Sixers trailing 86-85.

That led to a 3-pointer by Chris Duhon, giving the Bulls an 89-85 lead with 2:23 left.

''I was upset about a lot of the calls … and I thought at times it got personal,'' said Iverson, who got to the free-throw line 16 times. ''I thought there were a lot of missed calls, a lot of bad calls. I usually have words with referees during the game, and they didn't do anything that any other refs don't do except for him saying what he did to me.''

Iverson drew one of the game's four technicals, but the other three were whistled on the Bulls, who seemed to be having as much of a problem with the officiating crew as Iverson. Chicago got to the line 22 times, the Sixers 36.

Hinrich had an especially rough time — he drove the lane all night but seemingly couldn't buy a call, getting to the line just four times. But he finished with 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

http://www.mcall.com/sports/all-sixerssecond-amar20,0,2912481.story?coll=all-sports-hed






so i guess the ref told iverson that he, not duhon, whupped his ***.

i know they should NEVER do that, but LOL! iverson is such a drama queen!

his dramatic sweeping fall to the floor had every actress in hollywood who has ever dreamt of an oscar, let alone a peoples choice award, reaching for their remotes to see how it's done. it was a master class in emoting. such drama. such feeling. such turmoil. such inner anguish. such....haunting....wretching....pain....*sigh*.

it says alot about the bulls style of play that the superstars (ray allen, AI) think they are getting unfair treatment. boohoo.

so now, nobody wants to comment on the fact that eddy has missed three straight games with his hammy cause it "hurts", and duhon, nocioni and kirk are simply gutting it out and playing through their various ailments? no? ok!

it is still time to separate the men from the boys, and now, the GIRLS!!!

carry on.

 

[SausageKingofChicago]

OK I'll bite

I think Eddy is taking care of himself and the team for the right reasons

Fact is oustide of Eddy we don't have any capacity for big scoring upfront - Othella's flurry last night aside

I think its a responsible move

Sometimes the worst thing you can do is play through and cost your team and given our many options at guard all sitting there and suited up and ready to play.... there have been occasions where I think a rotational policy would work better to get guys their rest to get over their injuries

Kirk and Chris struggle to be consistently effective night in night out

Yet we have Frank Williams . Adrian Griffin , Jannero Pargo and Eric Piatowski not playing a lick

Time to loosen the rotation up a bit Coach and get over your Kirk fetish

Hey I'm not dissin Kirk .... Praise be the great man ... but its almost as though Coach Skiles is about to break into a post coital cigerrette whenever he gushes about his lovely

Its creepy ... and unnatural

Maybe Coach needs to take up Macrame or some Tibetan Monk chanting to help him over his miz like Kirk obsession

 

[mizenkay]

OK I'll bite

I think Eddy is taking care of himself and the team for the right reasons

Fact is oustide of Eddy we don't have any capacity for big scoring upfront - Othella's flurry last night aside

I think its a responsible move

Sometimes the worst thing you can do is play through and cost your team and given our many options at guard all sitting there and suited up and ready to play.... there have been occasions where I think a rotational policy would work better to get guys their rest to get over their injuries

Kirk and Chris struggle to be consistently effective night in night out

Yet we have Frank Williams . Adrian Griffin , Jannero Pargo and Eric Piatowski not playing a lick

Time to loosen the rotation up a bit Coach and get over your Kirk fetish

Hey I'm not dissin Kirk .... Praise be the great man ... but its almost as though Coach Skiles is about to break into a post coital cigerrette whenever he gushes about his lovely

Its creepy ... and unnatural

Maybe Coach needs to take up Macrame or some Tibetan Monk chanting to help him over his miz like Kirk obsession

:|

ok nevermind.

hopefully edward will grace us with his presence monday vs. the hawk.

 

[nanokooshball]

we've played pargo and adrian griffan *SHUDDER* ......griffan is so slow on the court and pargo jacks up a ton of shots and never makes them..... and why put frank williams on the floor? he's a PG we've got du and hinrich already.... and i doubt frank can shoot anyway

 

[Jim Ian]

2 quick points....

#1-
Isnt' it entirely possibly that Eddy's hammy is much worse off the Kirk's??? That Kirk has a minor sprain and Eddy has a full-out pull? And Deng? If anyone really thinks he should be playing, I doubt they've ever had what looked to be a pretty bad sprain. IMO he's a trooper who's ahead of schedual. The whole "playing through pain" thing... is kinda pointless when you don't know the true extent of the injury. I know it's a great excuse to hype one player while bringing down another (even though... strangly, they are both on the same team...)... but being as I doubt anyone on the board has examined both legs or any ankles at any point in time... I guess I just don't see the point of praising someone who may have a minor injury while dissing another player who, chances are, has it much worse off.

#2-
Iverson has every right to complain about calls. He got ripped off quite a few times vs the Bulls. Sorry, just the unbiased truth.

AI drives the lane more per quarter then Hinrich, Gordan and Duhon do in 2 weeks. He gets hit, knocked down, bumped more then anyone in the NBA. He should go the line 30 times a game with the way he gets to the hoop.

Now that being said, his "act" of falling down should have gotten him T'd and shown the door. However, he, Kobe, Tmac, Jordan, Rodman & Miller (and 50 or so other players I'd take on my team any day of the week) have done the same or similar things and gotten away with it. Even our very own Chandler and Hinrich have done things that *by the rules* should have gotten them T'd up. So in the end... I really don't see it as a point worth really getting worked up about.

 

[Machinehead]

:|

ok nevermind.

hopefully edward will grace us with his presence monday vs. the hawk.

Hey I wasn't rippin on your boy

I was rippin on Coach Skiles and his almost comical Bonnie Tyler Holding Out for a Hero machismo routine with Kirk and to a lesser degree "Noc" and "Du"

Its like all the burden in the world belongs to Kirk and Kirk only

Its like there is Kirk the player and Kirk the symbol

All the symbolic brue ha ha rah rah whilst Coach goes ga ga kind of makes me go bah hah

Whilst the icy no comment smilie and the terse wording underneath would diminish even the most hardy of students to the absurdities .... notwithstanding the disfavor of basketballboards.net's favorite gal ... I am still compelled to call the shyte when I smell the shyte

Shalom !

 

[rwj333]

Hey I wasn't rippin on your boy

I was rippin on Coach Skiles and his almost comical Bonnie Tyler Holding Out for a Hero machismo routine with Kirk and to a lesser degree "Noc" and "Du"

Its like all the burden in the world belongs to Kirk and Kirk only

Its like there is Kirk the player and Kirk the symbol

All the symbolic brue ha ha rah rah whilst Coach goes ga ga kind of makes me go bah hah

Whilst the icy no comment smilie and the terse wording underneath would diminish even the most hardy of students to the absurdities .... notwithstanding the disfavor of basketballboards.net's favorite gal ... I am still compelled to call the shyte when I smell the shyte

Shalom !

I think you forgot to log out of one screenname and log into another.

Machinehead? Or Sausage King? Which do you prefer?